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Just doing their jobs: Bolder Boulder will honor Chandler, Steinhauer for work as military surgeons in Vietnam

By Brian Howell Camera Sports Writer

Posted:
05/25/2013 06:15:58 PM MDT

Jim Chandler, left,? and Pete Steinhauer were surgeons who, during the Vietnam war, worked to remove a live grenade the neck of a Marine. The pair will be honored by the Bolder Boulder for their efforts during the war.
(
Mark Leffingwell
)

Ray Escalera and his fellow Marines were on patrol in Vietnam on Dec. 20, 1966.

"We had some very young Marines with us, so I had to take the point," Escalera said, recalling that day more than 46 years later.

"We set up an ambush and they ambushed us. They just opened up on me."

Just 20 years old at the time, Escalera had an 18-year-old wife and a 3-month old son, born the day before he left for Vietnam, back home in California. Two Naval surgeons stationed in Da Nang City made sure Escalera made it back to them.

"I owe them my life and they know it," said Escalera, who lives in the Los Angeles area.

Boulder residents Jim Chandler and Pete Steinhauer, who saved Escalera that day, will be honored Monday as part of the Bolder Boulder's annual Memorial Day Tribute.

On that December day in 1966, a chopper brought Escalera to the hospital in Da Nang City. He didn't know it at the time, but he had been hit by friendly fire. He had a bullet in his right leg, but it was the M-79 grenade lodged in his neck that concerned Chandler and Steinhauer. The grenade had not detonated, which added a measure of danger to what Chandler and Steinhauer had to do.

"I don't know of a similar operation done with a live ordnance," said Chandler, now 79, who grew up in San Francisco and moved to Boulder 19 years ago.

Most operations involving a live ordnance, Chandler said, were done in the subcutaneous tissue, which is the body tissue beneath the skin.

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"This one, we were in the midst of things that, for (Escalera) to live normally, had to be preserved," Chandler said.

The grenade entered into Escalera's right jaw, causing shattered bone and teeth fragments and a lot of soft tissue damage. Chandler was the primary surgeon, while Steinhauer, who specialized in oral surgery, was his assistant. Steinhauer, now 75, retired 15 years ago after practicing as an oral surgeon in Boulder for 32 years.

When Escalera was brought in, the surgeons recognized the urgency. They went about their work in their normal fashion, however, and were able to remove the grenade, which was about 8 centimeters in diameter and nearly 5 inches long.

Because it had not detonated, Chandler brought the grenade to a Marine EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) specialist. The Marine took the grenade to a safe area and detonated it. The explosion shook the operating room while Chandler and Steinhauer continued to work on Escalera's injuries.

"After it was all over, I didn't think that much of it," said Steinhauer, a University of Colorado graduate who later served on the board of regents for 12 years. "It was just another day, really, until all the people showed up the next morning."

The news media covering the war in Vietnam heard of the story and arrived at the hospital in Da Nang to interview Chandler and Steinhauer. A photo of the two surgeons and Escalera was taken and circulated around the United States.

Reporters showed up at Chandler's parents' home in California, unannounced and looking for an interview. Reporters called the wives of Chandler, Steinhauer and Escalera to get comments. Chandler was even interviewed on The Huntley-Brinkley report, which was NBC's nightly news program from 1956-1970.

While the story fascinated Americans in 1966, and still to this day, Chandler and Steinhauer don't believe they did anything extraordinary.

"We did our job and we happened to come upon a challenging and interesting case," Chandler said. "It was handled successfully and we're happy that he's alive and that nothing happened to us. It wasn't, in terms of the challenge, a unique case. We had far worse cases."

Perhaps, but this may have been the most rewarding case. Escalera is the only patient from the war that Chandler and Steinhauer connected with after returning from Vietnam.

Chandler and Escalera have been close since the 1960s, to the point that Escalera, now 65, said he has always looked up to Chandler "as a father."

Steinhauer and Escalera finally got a chance to meet again last September. During a trip to see the CU football team play Southern Cal in Los Angeles, Steinhauer took the opportunity to meet Escalera at his nearby home.

"My life is so much better just because I've met both of them now," Escalera said.

Life hasn't always been easy. In fact, the leg injury Escalera suffered 46 years ago has given him problems for years. A bone disease led to the leg being amputated below the knee two years ago. The pain hasn't gone away, though, and recurring health issues prevented Escalera from making the trip to Boulder.

Despite some hardships, Escalera has been blessed with three children and four grand children. What makes Chandler and Steinhauer special is that Escalera wasn't the only soldier to be blessed because of their work.

"There are so many older and middle-aged Marines that are alive today because of (Chandler)," Steinhauer said.

There are plenty of Marines, Vietnam citizens, even prisoners of war, who benefited from Steinhauer's talents, too. During and after the war -- Steinhauer and his wife have made annual trips to Vietnam since 1989 -- Steinhauer performed life-changing oral surgery on civilians with cleft lips and other severe dental issues.

At the Bolder Boulder, Chandler and Steinhauer will be recognized for the impact they made on the life of Escalera and many others. Steinhauer views it as "a real honor," while Chandler is more cautious about the attention.

Neither one of them sought publicity. They simply served the United States of America to the best of their ability.

"We look upon it as a task that fate gave us and we met the challenge," Chandler said.

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